Tag Archives: soccer

Living in Germany, I’ve been observing how German football fans here in Tübingen are collectively responding to the World Cup. Here follow some fieldnotes:

1) Football inspires a passion in Germans that you would never foresee, if you have etched in your mind a stereotype of German sensibility and level-headedness. They are mad for it – but most interesting to note is that more of them are mad for it than you might ever have guessed previously. All this time, some of the Germans you know have been hiding behind a calm façade a frenzied fan. This is the central truth which gives rise to a few more:

The German National team beat a feisty Algerian squad yesterday to advance into the quarterfinals for an unprecedented 16th time.

The match stayed pretty uneventful for most of regular time. With both teams pressing attack at times and both teams defending the goal spectacularly. Germany played the offside trap well early in the first half catching the Algerian striker Islam Slimani offside on what would have otherwise been an Algerian goal at the 17-minute mark.

This is a preview of World Cup Blog: Germany vs Algeria, Too Close for Comfort.

It seems that the World Cup is gradually turning out to be Copa América with the elimination of the European teams. The performance of the teams of South America is extremely good that makes us wonder about the reason of this extraordinary performance which I think can be summarized in these three reasons:

ONE. The weather with its high humidity that sometimes reach 80 percent makes it hard for European and Asian teams to complete for the 90 minutes without struggle.

TWO. Stadiums are full of their audience and fans which make it feel like home for these teams.

As the World Cup moves on into the knockout stages now seems the right time to have a look at the nations which have impressed the most and look like genuine title challengers. Spain, Italy, England, Croatia, and potentially Portugal have all been knocked out, so who is left to challenge for the ultimate prize and who has stood out so far?

In my introductory post, I suggested that, being a citizen of a country (Scotland) which is not represented at the upcoming World Cup, I can enjoy the peculiar pleasure of not having my heart tied as strongly as the ‘real’ fans to the plight of any of the teams which have qualified. While this is true, I often find myself getting behind particular countries during either a World Cup or a European Championship, for various reasons — and this year looks set to be no different; in fact, I have stronger cause to do so now than during any previous tournament. Why? And who’s going to attract my special interest?

This is a preview of World Cup Blog: How to Pick Your Team, A Scottish Perspective.

The American Outlaws hold a Beat Ghana banner during the U.S.A. Men’s National Team vs. Turkish National Team- World Cup send off match at Red Bull Arena. Photo copyright dpa

Well, the wait for the World Cup is officially underway. With most European soccer leagues having wrapped up their season, US soccer fans have only the MLS to keep them busy—or so it would seem. In typical American fashion, we’ve decided to fill in the pause with Hollywood-esque gossip, rumors, and controversy. The US Men’s National Team (USMNT) coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who is supposed to be our game-changing factor this time around by bringing European expertise and experience from Germany, has seemed to fire up fans for all the wrong reasons.

This is a preview of World Cup Blog: The Calm Before the Storm, an American Perspective.